The Search for Sana by Richard Zimler

Richard Zimler was born in Roslyn Heights, New York. After gaining bdegrees in Comparative Religion from Duke University and Journalism from Stanford University, he worked as a journalist in San Francisco for nearly a decade. In 1990, he moved to Porto, Portugal, where he has taught journalism for the last fourteen years, both at the College of Journalism and the University of Porto.
He is the author of five novels including 'Unholy Ghosts' and 'The Angelic Darkness'. 'The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon', the first in his series of independent historical novels about the Portugese-Jewish Zarco family, was named 1998 Book of the Year by three British critics and became a best seller in eleven countries. The second in the series, 'Hunting Midnight' , and third, 'Guardian of the Dawn', have also been international bestsellers.
Zimler has won many prizes for his writing, and has lectured on Sephardic Jewish culture and Portugese history all over the world. He reviews books for the San Francisco Chronicle and Os Meus Livros (Lisbon). When not writing, he enjoys gardening at his weekend house in the north of Portugal.